Contests

An Orlando lawyer has contested a Florida Supreme Court suspension order issued last month and based on allegations of misappropriated trust funds including cash withdrawals, vehicle payments, airline tickets, donations and restaurants. The state's high court had ordered the suspension April 11 for Clint Johnson, of the Johnson Law Group. But according to Johnson's lawyer, Chandler Muller of Muller & Sommerville in Winter Park, the referee in the case, 7th Judicial Circuit Judge Terrence Perkins, recommended this week that Johnson be placed on probation and subject to regular audits by The Florida Bar, contingent on Johnson's cooperation.

The inaugural College Football Playoff in January will bring change to the highest level of college football. To celebrate this change, Disney Parks has teamed up with ESPN and Varsity Spirit to create the "Cheer On Your Disney Side" contest. The promotion invites college cheer and dance teams to create a 30-second Disney Parks-inspired routine set to remixes of music from classic Walt Disney World attractions, including It's a Small World, Enchanted Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. The winning cheer or dance team will win a $100,000 grant for their college spirit program.

Enjoy entering contests? Then keep an eye on this space. Periodically, on Saturdays, we'll print information on interesting contests. Who knows -- you could be a winner. Good luck! LEARN AND WIN Here's a fun way for kids to learn about home safety and possibly earn money for the future, and his or her school: Children between the ages of 8 and 11 can go to CodeRedRover.org -- a Web site sponsored by Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse -- and play online games that teach safety lessons and help children identify common household hazards.

The mail coming to Ripley Entertainment these days is just as weird as the company's believe-it-or-not exhibits. A raccoon skull, an unusual set of antlers, a pink hula hoop, a roll of dental floss, a bowl of cereal and a 5-foot-tall inflatable palm tree have recently arrived at Ripley's headquarters in south Orlando - all without benefit of packaging. Through Sept. 5, Ripley's is running its second annual competition that asks the public to mail in unusual items in an unusual way: without envelopes, wrapping, boxes or bags.

At a time when the 86-year-old Miss America pageant is faltering, a new beauty contest is rising among minority women: the ethnic beauty pageant. Attend almost any cultural festival in Central Florida and you will find these contests. At the Native American events in Leesburg, there is Miss Powwow. Hispanics have Miss Latina annually in June. Indians from the Caribbean and India have Miss Diwali each October at Lake Eola, part of the Festival of Lights holiday. This weekend, Miss Vietnam Florida will be crowned today during the two-day Tet Festival, a celebration of Lunar New Year.

Applications are now available for the Foliage Sertoma Club's Little Miss Apopka and Cutie Pie contests.The contests will be Sept. 23 at Apopka High School. The Little Miss Apopka contest is open to girls ages 8-22, and the Cutie Pie contest is for girls ages 4-7. Applicants must attend an Apopka area elementary or middle school.Application forms are available at the Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce, 180 E. Main St.; the Apopka Recreation Department, 11 N. Forest Ave. and The Apopka Chief, 439 W. Orange Blossom Trail.

Leesburg girls interested in participating in a hometown pageant Sept. 19 at the Leesburg Woman's Club should obtain an entry form.Contestants must have a Leesburg ZIP code. Age divisions are as follows: Little Miss Leesburg, 6 to 9; Junior Miss Leesburg, 10 to 13; Miss Leesburg, 14 to 18.Winners will represent Leesburg at special events, parades and various activities.Forms are available at: Leesburg Chamber of Commerce; Merle Norman Cosmetics in Southside Plaza; Main Event and Family Shoe Store, both in downtown Leesburg; Beach's Western Wear, Palm Plaza; Love Shop and Shoe Biz, both in Lake Square Mall; Expressions, Leesburg Square; or contact Linda Watts at 326-4217.

John boats, canoes and kayaks are gaining in popularity due to our low water levels. While many ramps are closed for large boats, manually launching of small craft is proving successful for hardy anglers. Pursuing specks is a favorite pastime for this time of year. Area tackle shops begin their annual big speck contests. For a small entry fee, anglers can compete for cash prizes and merchandise. Archer's Bait & Tackle in Winter Garden offers gift certificates and grand prizes for a $2 entry.

For contests that are supposed to attract viewers, those cash giveaways during February newscasts have raised quite a ruckus. They've shaken the local TV industry, caused a lot of confusion and appalled news junkies.There was spectacular irony to the lawsuit WCPX-Channel 6 filed last week against WESH-Channel 2, accusing the station of unfair competition over the contests. The two stations' general managers share a disdain for the giveaways. If only they could get together. . . .But there's an unfortunate timidity when it comes to the contests.

Ah, fall. 'Tis the season for carving pumpkins, indulging in candy and playing radio contests.When the leaves start dropping, radio stations start spending money on promotions. Fall and spring are the two most important periods in listener ratings. Contests are one of the easiest ways to get attention.Not every station in town gets into the game, of course, but that doesn't mean they're ignoring the important fall season. Other stations are going after listeners with television (105.1 FM (WOMX)

A man who authorities say robbed a Volusia County bank last year while dressed as Santa Claus pleaded no contest Thursday to robbery. Mark London, 63, a former manager for a company that provides mall Santa Clauses, also pleaded no contest to displaying a hoax bomb during the commission of a felony and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, the Volusia County State Attorney's Office said. He had been scheduled to go on trial Monday. Port Orange police say London on Dec. 23 robbed the SunTrust branch at 2865 S. Nova Road while dressed in a Santa hat, wig, beard and sunglasses.

Get your Dickens groove on, and your group could dance off with $5,000. As part of the "What the Dickens Orlando" celebration, a cash prize of $5,000 is being offered to the best video of a musically staged performance, without being previously publicly announced, in a public space where people wandering by will be surprised by the performance. In other words, a Dickens flash mob. The performance must be of a song from a musical inspired by the one of the works of Charles Dickens.

A three-day search for the remains of a 31-year-old Holly Hill woman believed to be slain in 2011 has yielded no results, officials said. Michael Annicchiarico, originally charged with first-degree murder, on Monday made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the slaying of his girlfriend, Mandy Ciehanoski. A handcuffed Annicchiarico led investigators to a wooded area in the extreme southern part of Flagler County, north of Ormond Beach. Finding the remains was a key part of the deal.

WHAT: The City of Orlando's Downtown Development Board is running a "Best of Downtown Orlando" photo contest for professional and amateur photographers of all ages. Participants will be encouraged to share their images through social-media outlets to collect as many votes as possible. The Top 10 favorite images and their photographers will get a reserved section at CityArts Factory for the "Take Your Best Shot" exhibit in August. At least one image per artist will be printed and displayed.

An Ormond Beach man will spent 25 years in prison after pleading no contest Monday in a child-molestation case. Chad Spears, 33, was adjudicated guilty Monday after entering a no-contest plea to the charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child, the State Attorney's Office said. He was accused of abusing a 7-year-old boy and has been labeled a registered sexual predator. He told investigators he did it, officials say. Because Spears received a statutory minimum-mandatory sentence of 25 years, he will serve the "sentence day for day," prosecutors said.

The Educational Foundation of Lake County will present the annual "Stepping Out for Education," a ballroom-dance competition similar to "Dancing With the Stars," a show on ABC that pairs professional dancers with celebrities. The event is scheduled for July 26 at Lake Receptions, 4425 County Road 19A, Mount Dora. Contestants will be paired with professional ballroom dancers and have trained for 20 hours in the fox trot, rumba, cha cha, swing and tango. Celebrity contestants include Freddy Williams, chief executive officer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake and Sumter Counties; Sheri Olson, director of South Lake Hospital Foundation; Sandi Moore, executive director of the Leesburg Chamber of Commerce; Bobby Rhodes, president of Eco Construction Group; Melissa DeJarlais, principal of Fruitland Park Elementary; and Heath Nailos with Boyette, Cummins & Nailos, PA. A top female and male performer will be selected by three renowned judges and the overall winner will be selected by the audience vote.

SANFORD – A Lyman High School algebra teacher accused of having sex with two female students today pleaded no contest in exchange for a 12-year prison sentence. Scott Kimbrough, 40, who lives near Winter Park, was fired by the district shortly after his arrest May 8, 2013. According to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, he was sexually involved at the time with a 17-year-old girl, and the two had sex at least three times at his home. Two years earlier, he had had an affair with a 15-year-old girl, the Sheriff's Office reported.

LEESBURG — Guy Wilson could have used a little help when answering the final question as a "Jeopardy!" contestant. The question was, "Of the Beatles' 20 U.S. No.1 Hits, this song has the shortest title. " The 48-year-old Leesburg SAT tutor answered, "What is 'Hey Jude?'" But the correct answer was "Help!" Wilson was in second place going into the final question in the show that was taped in February and aired Wednesday. He was in position to possibly win but wound up in third place and left with a $1,000 prize.